SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. has emerged as a big winner in Montreal’s $6.3 billion for a new rail project that will connect the city to its suburbs and to its international airport.

Michael Sabia, head of the province’s public pension fund manager, announced the two consortiums selected to build the project today in Montreal, with SNC as a participant in both groups.

Sabia announced that a consortium of SNC-Lavalin, Dragados, Aecon, Pomerleau and EBC will be responsible for engineering, procurement and construction, while Alstom and SNC-Lavalin will provide the cars.

The light-rail project is expected to be ready by the summer of 2021. The plan has been slightly changed and it will now include 26 stations along a 67-kilometre automated light rail network.

The Caisse de depot pension fund along with the Quebec and federal governments are contributing to the project. The plan was first announced in January 2015.

Maxim Sytchev, an analyst with National Bank Financial Inc. says while the financial numbers are still not known, SNC “should expect several billion dollars (20%+) lift to SNC’s backlog in Q1/18E as construction is expected to commence in April 2018.”

“With the shares being weak (in a very ugly macro tape, granted) since the start of the year… the backlog replenishment is the first step in re-establishing momentum for the name,” Sytchev wrote in a note to clients.

SNC stock was trading 1.3 per cent higher Thursday to $53.29, but has fallen nearly 5.5 per cent over the past 12 months.